Communication method, communication device, medium and program product

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are a communication method, a communication device, a storage medium and a program product. The communication method comprises: a terminal device receives SSBs, and determines a time domain and frequency domain mapping order for an SSB pattern associated with the SSBs, wherein, for example, the mapping order may comprise mapping to the frequency domain first and then mapping to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then mapping to the frequency domain; and then, on the basis of the mapping order and SSB numbers, the terminal device determines positions of the SSBs in the SSB pattern. Thus, the efficiency of terminal devices performing SSB blind detection and time-frequency synchronization is improved.

Description

Communication method, communication device, medium and program product

[0001] This disclosure claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on March 4, 2024, with application number 202410246917.3 and invention name “A communication method, communication equipment, medium and program product”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a communication method, a communication device, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product. Background Art

[0003] To meet the growing demand for wireless communications, wireless communication systems are introducing an increasing number of new spectrum resources. High frequencies, with their inherent advantage of large bandwidth, are an effective way to improve communication service capabilities. However, compared to low frequencies, high frequencies suffer from significant path loss. To overcome this drawback, large-array technologies on the base station side continue to evolve, resulting in increasingly narrow beams and an increasing number of beams. To maintain good communication quality, base stations and terminal devices require beam training and beam tracking to achieve beam alignment. In fifth-generation (5G) communication systems, the synchronization signal block (SSB) performs both beam alignment and time-frequency synchronization between base stations (BS) and user equipment (UE). However, there are still some technical issues related to SSB that need to be addressed. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, a communication device, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product.

[0005] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided. The method is performed by a terminal device. The terminal device may be a device or apparatus with a chip, or a device or apparatus with integrated circuits, or a chip, chip system, module, or control unit in the aforementioned devices or apparatuses, and the present application does not limit this. It should be noted that, in the present application, reference to a terminal device may refer to the terminal device itself, or to a chip, functional module, integrated circuit, etc. within the terminal device that implements the method provided by the present application, and the present application does not limit this. In the first aspect and its possible implementations, the method is described as being performed by a terminal device. The method includes: receiving an SSB; determining a mapping order of an SSB pattern associated with the SSB in the time domain and frequency domain, the mapping order including mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain; and determining the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern based on the mapping order and the SSB number. In this manner, the efficiency of SSB blind detection and time-frequency synchronization for the terminal device is improved.

[0006] In some embodiments, the mapping order may be predefined. For example, the mapping order may be predefined in a standard. Alternatively or additionally, the mapping order may be preconfigured. For example, a network device may preconfigure the mapping order to a terminal device via higher-layer signaling. Alternatively or additionally, the mapping order may be indicated in the SSB. Thus, the mapping order can be flexibly indicated.

[0007] In some embodiments, determining the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern includes determining the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern; determining the SSB pattern based on the mapping order and the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern; and determining the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern based on the SSB number and the SSB pattern. In this way, the dimension of the SSB pattern and the position of the currently detected SSB in the SSB pattern can be effectively determined. For example, the number of SSBs divided in frequency can be 1, 2, or 4 (i.e., corresponding to 1, 2, or 4 concurrent beams, respectively). In some implementations, when determining the SSB pattern, the number of SSBs divided in the time domain in the SSB pattern (i.e., the maximum number of SSBs that need to be received in the time domain) can be determined based on the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern and the total number of SSBs in the SSB pattern, and then the SSB pattern can be determined based on the mapping order.

[0008] In some embodiments, determining the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern includes determining the number of SSBs time-divided in the time domain in the SSB pattern; determining the SSB pattern based on the mapping order and the number of SSBs time-divided in the time domain in the SSB pattern; and determining the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern based on the SSB number and the SSB pattern. Thus, the dimension of the SSB pattern and the position of the currently detected SSB in the SSB pattern can be effectively determined. For example, the number of time-divided SSBs can be 16, 32, or 64 (i.e., corresponding to 4, 2, or 1 concurrent beams, respectively). In some implementations, when determining the SSB pattern, the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern can be determined based on the number of SSBs time-divided in the time domain in the SSB pattern and the total number of SSBs in the SSB pattern, and then the SSB pattern can be determined based on the mapping order.

[0009] In some embodiments, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern is indicated in at least one of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH in the SSB (for example, the PBCH DMRS may be abbreviated as PBCH-DMRS). Thus, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain can be flexibly indicated.

[0010] In some embodiments, the method further includes: determining the maximum number of SSBs that need to be received in the time domain based on the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern. Thus, limiting the maximum number of SSBs in the time domain based on the number of frequency-divided SSBs can reduce the detection complexity on the terminal device side. For example, the total number of time-frequency two-dimensional SSBs can be predefined. As an example, the total number of time-frequency two-dimensional SSBs can be 32, 64, 128, etc. In an example implementation, when the total number of time-frequency two-dimensional SSBs is 64, when the number of frequency-divided SSBs in the frequency domain is {1, 2, 4}, the maximum number of SSBs that need to be received in the time domain can be determined to be {64, 32, 16} accordingly.

[0011] In some embodiments, the method may further include performing time domain synchronization based on the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern. For example, the terminal device may determine the starting point of the frame in which the SSB is located based on the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern. As an example implementation, the terminal device may determine the starting point of the frame based on the time domain position of the SSB in the SSB pattern (the time domain position is determined based on at least the number of the SSB), and a first time domain offset between it and a first reference time domain position, and a second time domain offset between the first reference time domain position and the starting point of the frame. As another example implementation, the SSB may indicate a time domain offset of the candidate SSB position, and the method further includes performing time domain synchronization based on the number of the SSB and the time domain offset. For example, the terminal device may determine the starting point of the frame based on the time domain position of the received SSB in the SSB pattern (the time domain position is determined based on at least the number of the SSB), and a first time domain offset between it and the first reference time domain position, a time domain offset between the first reference time domain position and the second reference time domain position (also referred to as a second time domain offset), and the time domain offset. Thus, the network side can stagger the SSB patterns of multiple network devices in the time domain, so that the interference received by the terminal device when receiving the SSB is more random. In some embodiments, the time domain offset is indicated in one or more of the following: PBCH, Master Information Block (MIB), or System Information Block (SIB) in the SSB. Thus, the time domain offset can be flexibly indicated.

[0012] In some embodiments, SSB indicates the interval between the center frequency points of two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern (also referred to as the frequency domain interval). Thus, the terminal device can determine the mapping position of the SSB pattern.

[0013] In some embodiments, the interval is determined based on the synchronization grid, and the synchronization grid step is greater than or equal to the SSB bandwidth. This improves the efficiency of SSB blind detection at the terminal device. For example, the interval can be indicated as an integer multiple of the synchronization grid step to reduce indication overhead. For example, the synchronization grid step can be greater than or equal to the SSB bandwidth. In this case, guard bands can be reserved on both sides of the SSB.

[0014] In some embodiments, the method further includes: determining the frequency domain position of the common resource block based on one or more of the following: spacing; bandwidth of the SSB; a frequency offset between the lowest subcarrier of the resource block overlapping the SSB with the lowest frequency domain position in the SSB pattern and the frequency domain position of the common resource block; or a subcarrier offset between the lowest subcarrier of the SSB with the lowest frequency domain position in the SSB pattern and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block overlapping the SSB with the lowest frequency domain position in the SSB pattern. In this way, the terminal device can effectively perform frequency domain synchronization.

[0015] In some embodiments, the interval is indicated in at least one of the PBCH in the SSB or the DMRS of the PBCH. Thus, the flexibility of indicating the interval can be improved.

[0016] In the second aspect of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided. The method is performed by a network device. The network device may be a device or apparatus with a chip, or a device or apparatus with integrated circuits, or a chip, chip system, module, or control unit in the aforementioned devices or apparatuses, and the present application does not limit this. It should be noted that in the present application, when referring to a network device, it may refer to the network device itself, or to a chip, functional module, or integrated circuit in the network device that performs the method provided in the present application, and the present application does not limit this. In the second aspect and its possible implementations, the method is described as being performed by a network device. The method includes: determining a mapping order of an SSB pattern in the time domain and frequency domain, the mapping order including mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain; determining an SSB pattern based on the mapping order; and transmitting an SSB based on the SSB pattern. In this way, the efficiency of SSB blind detection and time-frequency synchronization of the terminal device is improved.

[0017] In some embodiments, the mapping order may be predefined. For example, the mapping order may be predefined in a standard. Alternatively or additionally, the mapping order may be preconfigured. For example, a network device may preconfigure the mapping order to a terminal device via higher-layer signaling. Alternatively or additionally, the mapping order may be indicated in the SSB. Thus, the mapping order can be flexibly indicated.

[0018] In some embodiments, SSB indicates the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern. For example, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain may be 1, 2, or 4 (i.e., corresponding to 1, 2, or 4 concurrent beams, respectively). Thus, the terminal device can effectively determine the dimension of the SSB pattern and, thereby, the position of the currently detected SSB in the SSB pattern.

[0019] In some embodiments, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern is indicated in at least one of the physical broadcast channel PBCH or the demodulation reference signal DMRS of the PBCH in the SSB. Thus, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain can be flexibly indicated.

[0020] In some embodiments, the method further includes determining a maximum number of SSBs that can be transmitted in the time domain based on the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern. Thus, limiting the maximum number of SSBs in the time domain based on the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain can reduce detection complexity on the terminal device side.

[0021] In some embodiments, the SSB indicates the time domain offset of the candidate SSB position. Thus, the network side can stagger the SSB patterns of multiple network devices in the time domain, so that the interference received by the terminal device when receiving the SSB is more random.

[0022] In some embodiments, the time domain offset is indicated in one or more of the following: PBCH in SSB, MIB, or SIB. Thus, the time domain offset can be flexibly indicated.

[0023] In some embodiments, SSB indicates the interval between the center frequency points of two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern. Thus, the terminal device can determine the mapping position of the SSB pattern.

[0024] In some embodiments, the interval is determined based on the synchronization grid, and the synchronization grid step is greater than or equal to the SSB bandwidth. This improves the efficiency of SSB blind detection by the terminal device. For example, the interval can be indicated as an integer multiple of the synchronization grid step to reduce indication overhead. For example, the synchronization grid step can be greater than or equal to the SSB bandwidth. In this case, guard bands can be reserved on both sides of the SSB.

[0025] In some embodiments, the interval is indicated in at least one of the PBCH in the SSB or the DMRS of the PBCH. Thus, the flexibility of indicating the interval can be improved.

[0026] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes a processor and a memory storing instructions. When the instructions are executed by the processor, the terminal device performs any method according to any one of the first and second aspects and their implementations.

[0027] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, comprising a component for executing any method according to any one of the first to second aspects and implementations thereof.

[0028] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by an electronic device, causes the electronic device to perform any method of any one of the first to second aspects and their implementations.

[0029] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, which includes instructions, and when executed by an electronic device, the instructions cause the electronic device to perform any method of any one of the first to second aspects and their implementations.

[0030] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a chip or a chip system is provided, comprising a processing circuit configured to perform the operations of any method according to any one of the first to second aspects and implementations thereof.

[0031] In the eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, which may be a device or apparatus with a chip, or a device or apparatus integrated with a circuit, or a chip, chip system, module or control unit in the aforementioned device or apparatus, and this application does not limit this. It should be noted that in this application, when referring to a communication device, it may refer to the communication device itself, or to a chip, functional module or integrated circuit in the communication device that completes the method provided in this application, and this application does not limit this. The communication device includes a component for executing any method according to any aspect of the first to second aspects and their implementation methods.

[0032] In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor configured to execute a computer program or computer instruction in a memory to perform any method according to any one of the first to second aspects and their implementations.

[0033] It should be understood that the contents described in this disclosure are not intended to limit the key or important features of this disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will become readily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] FIG1A shows a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0035] FIG. 1B illustrates an example global synchronization channel number (GSCN) parameter of a global frequency grid associated with embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 1C illustrates an example SSB frequency position indication associated with embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 1D illustrates example frequency synchronization associated with embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0038] Figure IE shows an example synchronization signal block subcarrier level offset configuration associated with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] Figure 1F shows an example offset configuration of a synchronization signal block from PointA associated with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] FIG2 shows a schematic interactive signaling diagram of a communication process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] 3A and 3B respectively illustrate example time-frequency two-dimensional SSB patterns according to first mapping to the frequency domain and then to the time domain, and first mapping to the time domain and then to the frequency domain, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 3C illustrates an example determination of the maximum number of SSBs in the time domain according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG3D illustrates an example time-frequency two-dimensional SSB pattern mapped according to a synchronization grid step according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] FIG3E shows a first example of time domain synchronization according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] FIG3F shows a second example of time domain synchronization according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0046] FIG3G shows an example of frequency domain synchronization according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] FIG4 shows a schematic flowchart of a method implemented at a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0048] FIG5 shows a schematic flowchart of a method implemented at a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0049] FIG6 shows a block diagram of a device for implementing an embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0050] FIG7 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0051] FIG8 shows another schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0052] FIG9 shows a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0053] FIG10 shows a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0054] FIG11 shows a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] The following describes embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to provide a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0056] In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "including" and similar terms should be understood as open inclusion, that is, "including but not limited to." The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on." The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment." The terms "first," "second," etc. may refer to different or the same objects. Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below.

[0057] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to cellular communication protocols such as fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), and future communication protocols (e.g., sixth generation (6G)), wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future.

[0058] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure are applied to communication systems that comply with any appropriate communication protocols, such as: General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), Time Division-Synchronization Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), fifth generation (5G) systems (e.g., New Radio (NR)) and future communication systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G) systems), etc.

[0059] For illustrative purposes, the embodiments of the present disclosure are described below in the context of a 5G communication system in 3GPP. However, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this communication system, but can be applied to any communication system with similar problems, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wired communication system, or other communication systems developed in the future.

[0060] It can be understood that "sending" and "receiving" in the present disclosure indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "sending information to a terminal device" can be understood as the destination end of the information being the terminal device, which can include direct sending through the air interface, and also includes indirect sending through the air interface by other units or modules. "Receiving information from a network device" can be understood as the source end of the information being the network device, which can include direct receiving from the network device through the air interface, and also includes indirect receiving from the network device through the air interface from other units or modules. "Sending" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receiving" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface.

[0061] In other words, sending and receiving can be performed between devices, for example, between a network device and a terminal device, or can be performed within a device, for example, sending or receiving between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within the device through a bus, wiring or interface.

[0062] It is understandable that information may be processed between the source and destination, such as encoding and modulation, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this disclosure can be understood similarly and will not be repeated.

[0063] The following introduces the terminal device and network device involved in the present disclosure.

[0064] Terminal devices, also known as user equipment (UE), mobile stations (MS), mobile terminals (MT), and customer premise equipment (CPE), are devices that include wireless communication capabilities (providing voice and data connectivity to users). Examples include handheld devices, in-vehicle devices, and machine-type communication (MTC) terminals with wireless connectivity. Currently, terminal devices include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals used in industrial control, self-driving vehicles, remote medical surgery, smart grids, transportation safety, smart cities, and smart homes. For example, wireless terminals in unmanned driving can be drones, helicopters, or airplanes. For example, wireless terminals in the Internet of Vehicles can be onboard equipment, complete vehicle equipment, onboard modules, vehicles, or ships. Wireless terminals in industrial control can be cameras, robots, or robotic arms. Wireless terminals in smart homes can be televisions, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, speakers, or set-top boxes.

[0065] It should be noted that the terminal device may be a device or apparatus with a chip, or a device or apparatus with integrated circuits, or a chip, module or control unit in the device or apparatus shown above, and this disclosure does not limit this.

[0066] A network device is a device deployed in a radio access network (RAN) to provide wireless communication capabilities for terminal devices. A network device can also be called an access network (RAN) entity, access node, network node, or communication device.

[0067] Specifically, the network device may be an access network device of a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). For example, a fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication system or a 5G mobile communication system. The network device may also be an access network device in an open radio access network (RAN, O-RAN or ORAN) or a cloud radio access network (CRAN). Alternatively, the network device may be an access network device in a communication system obtained by integrating two or more of the above communication systems.

[0068] The network equipment includes, but is not limited to, evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), access point (AP) in wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, macro base station, micro base station, wireless relay node, donor node, wireless controller in CRAN scenario, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP) or transmission and receiving point (TRP). The network equipment may also be access network equipment in 5G mobile communication system. For example, the next generation NodeB (gNB) in new radio (NR) system, TRP, TP, or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in 5G mobile communication system. Alternatively, the network device may also be a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point. For example, a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU may be configured separately or included in the same network element. For example, a BBU. The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit. For example, in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). Alternatively, the network device may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle, or an onboard device. For example, in V2X technology, the network device may be a road side unit (RSU).

[0069] It should be noted that in different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, CU may also be called an open centralized unit (O-CU) or an open CU, DU may also be called an open distributed unit (O-DU), a centralized unit control plane (CU-CP) may also be called an open centralized unit control plane (O-CU-CP) or an open CU-CP, a centralized unit user plane (CU-UP) may also be called an open centralized unit user plane (O-CU-UP) or an open CU-UP, and RU may also be called an open radio unit (O-RU), but this disclosure does not limit this. Any of the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0070] Optionally, for network elements in the ORAN system, each network element may implement the protocol layer functions shown in Table 1 below.

[0071] Table 1

[0072] It should be noted that the network device may be one or more network elements shown in Table 1 above, and this disclosure does not limit this.

[0073] It should be noted that Table 1 above is merely an example. In actual applications, the protocol layer functions supported by each network element are not limited. For example, each network element may support more protocol layer functions, or the protocol layer functions supported by each network element may be specifically configured based on actual conditions. This disclosure does not impose any specific limitations.

[0074] The following describes the architecture of the CU and DU of an access network device. The access network device includes at least one CU and at least one DU. Optionally, the access network device also includes at least one RU.

[0075] The following is an introduction using the example of an access network device including a CU and a DU. The CU has some functions of the core network, and the CU may include a CU-CP and a CU-UP. The CU and the DU may be configured according to the protocol layer functions of the wireless network they implement. For example, the CU is configured to implement the functions of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and the protocol layers above it (for example, the RRC layer and / or the SDAP layer). The DU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (for example, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and / or the PHY layer). For another example, the CU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers above the PDCP layer (such as the RRC layer and / or the SDAP layer), and the DU is configured to implement the functions of the PDCP layer and the protocol layers below it (for example, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and / or the PHY layer, etc.).

[0076] When a CU includes a CU-CP and a CU-UP, the CU-CP is used to implement the control plane functions of the CU, and the CU-UP is used to implement the user plane functions of the CU. For example, when the CU is configured to implement the functions of the PDCP layer, RRC layer, and SDAP layer, the CU-CP is used to implement the RRC layer functions and the control plane functions of the PDCP layer, and the CU-UP is used to implement the SDAP layer functions and the user plane functions of the PDCP layer.

[0077] The CU-CP can interact with the network elements in the core network that are used to implement control plane functions. The network elements in the core network that are used to implement control plane functions may be access and mobility function network elements, such as the access and mobility management function (AMF) in the 5G mobile communication system. The access and mobility function network elements are responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as location update of terminal devices, registration network of terminal devices, switching of terminal devices, etc. The CU-UP can interact with the network elements in the core network that are used to implement user plane functions. The network elements in the core network that are used to implement user plane functions, such as the user plane function (UPF) in the 5G mobile communication system, are responsible for forwarding and receiving data in the terminal device.

[0078] The above configuration of CU and DU is only an example, and the functions of CU and DU can also be configured as needed. For example, the CU or DU can be configured to have the functions of more protocol layers, or the CU or DU can be configured to have partial processing functions of the protocol layer. For example, some functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are set in the DU. For another example, the functions of the CU or DU can be divided according to the service type or other system requirements. For example, according to the delay, the functions whose processing time needs to meet the smaller delay requirement are set in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement are set in the CU.

[0079] The DU and RU can work together to implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of the DU and RU can be configured in various ways according to the design. For example, the DU is configured to implement the baseband function, and the RU is configured to implement the mid-RF function. For another example, the DU is configured to implement the high-layer functions in the PHY layer, and the RU is configured to implement the low-layer functions in the PHY layer or to implement the low-layer functions and the RF functions. The high-layer functions in the physical layer may include a part of the functions of the physical layer, which is closer to the MAC layer, and the low-layer functions in the physical layer may include another part of the functions of the physical layer, which is closer to the mid-RF side.

[0080] Optionally, the network device may also be a core network device. The core network device is responsible for access control, registration management, service management, mobility management, etc. for terminal devices to access the network. Some embodiments of the present disclosure may involve beams, and the embodiment of beams in the NR protocol may be a spatial domain filter, or a spatial filter, or a spatial domain parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial domain setting, a spatial setting, or Quasi-colocation (QCL) information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, etc. The beam may be indicated by a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (TCI-state) parameter, or by a spatial relation parameter. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "beam" can be replaced by spatial filters, spatial filters, spatial parameters, spatial parameters, spatial settings, spatial settings, QCL information, QCL assumptions, QCL indications, TCI-states (including downlink (DL) TCI-states and uplink (UL) TCI-states), spatial relationships, etc. The above terms are also equivalent to each other. Beams can also be replaced by other terms representing beams, which are not limited in this disclosure.

[0081] The term "beam" used in the embodiments of the present disclosure is a communication resource. A beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The technology for forming the beam can be beamforming technology or other technical means. The beamforming technology can specifically be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, and hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology. Different beams can be considered as different resources. The same information or different information can be sent through different beams. Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be regarded as a beam. A beam can include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and detection signals, etc. For example, a transmit beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength formed in different directions in space after the signal is sent out by the antenna, and a receive beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength of the wireless signal received from the antenna in different directions in space. It can be understood that one or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be regarded as an antenna port set. When using low-frequency or medium-frequency bands, signals can be sent omnidirectionally or through a wider angle. When using high-frequency bands, thanks to the smaller carrier wavelength of high-frequency communication systems, antenna arrays consisting of many antenna elements can be arranged at the transmitting and receiving ends. The transmitting end sends signals with certain beamforming weights, so that the transmitted signals form a beam with spatial directionality. At the same time, the receiving end uses an antenna array with certain beamforming weights to receive the signals, which can improve the received signal power at the receiving end and combat path loss.

[0082] A beam can also be understood as a spatial filter or spatial parameters. The beam used to transmit a signal can be called a transmission beam (Tx beam). For example, it can be a spatial domain transmit filter or spatial transmit parameters (spatial Tx parameters). It can also refer to a spatial transmit angle (such as azimuth and zenith) or a spatial transmit angle range (such as azimuth center angle and offset, azimuth uncertainty, azimuth protection range, zenith center angle and offset, zenith angle uncertainty, zenith angle protection range), etc. The beam used to receive the signal can be called a reception beam (Rx beam), for example, it can be a spatial domain receive filter or spatial receive parameters (spatial receive parameters, spatial Rx parameters), or it can be a spatial receiving angle (such as azimuth, zenith) or a spatial receiving angle range (such as azimuth center angle and offset, azimuth uncertainty, azimuth protection range, zenith center angle and offset, zenith angle uncertainty, zenith angle protection range), etc. The beamforming technology of the embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented based on a power amplifier of a new material, or based on a new antenna architecture, such as a new hybrid phased array and lens antenna technology. Although in the 5G-NR protocol, the beam can be a spatial filter, it should be understood that the present disclosure does not exclude the possibility of defining other terms in future protocols to express the same or similar meanings.

[0083] The terms "antenna panel" or "panel" used in the present disclosure can be understood as a beam group. Each antenna panel can be configured with one or more receive beams and one or more transmit beams. A communication device, such as a terminal device or a network device, can receive signals through the receive beam on the antenna panel, and can also send signals through the transmit beam on the antenna panel. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for a terminal device, the panel can be distinguished by the resource of the uplink reference signal. The uplink reference signal can be a sounding reference signal (SRS). As an example and not a limitation, an antenna panel can correspond to an SRS resource set identifier (ID). That is, an SRS resource set ID can be used to indicate a terminal device panel. For a network device, the network device can be distinguished by the panel ID. For example, the panel ID can be indicated by a transmission configuration indicator (TCI).

[0084] The term "quasi-co-location (QCL)" used in this disclosure refers to a co-location relationship, which is used to indicate that multiple resources have one or more identical or similar communication characteristics. For multiple resources with a co-location relationship, the same or similar communication configuration can be adopted. For example, if two antenna ports have a co-location relationship, the large-scale characteristics of the channel for transmitting a symbol on one port can be inferred from the large-scale characteristics of the channel for transmitting a symbol on the other port. The large-scale characteristics may include: delay spread, average delay, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, receiving parameters, terminal device receiving beam number, transmit / receive channel correlation, receive arrival angle, spatial correlation of receiver antennas, main arrival angle (angel-of-arrival, AoA), average arrival angle, extension of AoA, etc. Specifically, the co-location indication is used to indicate whether at least two groups of antenna ports have a co-location relationship: the co-location indication is used to indicate whether the channel state information reference signals sent by at least two groups of antenna ports come from the same transmission point, or the co-location indication is used to indicate whether the channel state information reference signals sent by at least two groups of antenna ports come from the same beam group.

[0085] Antenna ports with a QCL relationship will experience the same or similar channel parameters, or the channel parameters experienced by one antenna port can be used to determine the channel parameters experienced by another antenna port with a QCL relationship with the antenna port, or the difference in channel parameters experienced by the two antenna ports is less than a certain threshold. Among them, the antenna port can also be referred to as a port, which refers to a transmitting antenna identified by the receiving device, or a transmitting antenna that can be distinguished in space. An antenna port can be configured for each virtual antenna, each virtual antenna can be a weighted combination of multiple physical antennas, and each antenna port can correspond to a reference signal port. The above-mentioned channel parameters may include one or more of the following: delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average delay, average gain and spatial reception parameters. Among them, the spatial reception parameters may include, for example: angle of arrival (AOA), average AOA, AOA spread, angle of departure (AOD), average angle of departure AOD, AOD spread, receiving antenna spatial correlation parameter, transmitting antenna spatial correlation parameter, transmitting beam, receiving beam and resource identifier. The above angles can be decomposition values ​​of different dimensions, or a combination of decomposition values ​​of different dimensions. The above antenna ports are antenna ports with different antenna port numbers, and / or antenna ports with the same antenna port number that send or receive information in different time and / or frequency and / or code domain resources, and / or antenna ports with different antenna port numbers that send or receive information in different time and / or frequency and / or code domain resources. The above resource identifier can be used to indicate an identifier on a resource. The resource identifier may include, for example, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource identifier, an SRS resource identifier, a synchronization signal / synchronization signal block resource identifier, a preamble sequence transmitted on a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource identifier, or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource identifier. In the 5G-NR protocol, QCL relationships can be divided into the following four types based on different parameters: Type A: Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread; Type B: Doppler shift, Doppler spread; Type C: Doppler shift, average delay; and Type D: spatial reception parameters. The embodiments of the present disclosure may relate to QCL relationships of any of the above-mentioned QCL types.In some embodiments, unless otherwise specified, the QCL may be understood as a Type D QCL, i.e., a QCL defined based on spatial reception parameters, as an example only. However, it should be understood that this disclosure does not preclude the possibility of defining other terms in future agreements to express the same or similar meanings.

[0086] When the QCL relationship refers to a QCL relationship of type D, the QCL relationship between a port of a downlink signal and a port of a downlink signal, or between a port of an uplink signal and a port of an uplink signal, can be that the two signals have the same AOA or AOD, to indicate that they have the same receive beam or transmit beam. For example, for a QCL relationship between a downlink signal and an uplink signal, or between ports of an uplink signal and a downlink signal, it can mean that the AOA and AOD of the two signals have a corresponding relationship, or that the AOD and AOA of the two signals have a corresponding relationship, that is, beam reciprocity can be used to determine the uplink transmit beam based on the downlink receive beam, or to determine the downlink receive beam based on the uplink transmit beam. Signals transmitted on ports having a spatial QCL relationship can also have corresponding beams, and the corresponding beams include at least one of the following: the same or similar receive beams, the same or similar transmit beams, a transmit beam corresponding to a receive beam (corresponding to a scenario with beam reciprocity), and a receive beam corresponding to a transmit beam (corresponding to a scenario with beam reciprocity). The signals transmitted on the ports having a spatial QCL relationship can also be understood as signals received or transmitted using the same spatial filter. The spatial filter can be at least one of the following: precoding, antenna port weight, antenna port phase deflection, antenna port amplitude gain. The signals transmitted on the ports having a spatial QCL relationship can also be understood as having corresponding beam pair links (BPL). The corresponding BPL includes at least one of the following: the same downlink BPL, the same uplink BPL, an uplink BPL corresponding to the downlink BPL, and a downlink BPL corresponding to the uplink BPL. Therefore, the spatial reception parameters (i.e., QCL of type D) can be understood as parameters used to indicate the directional information of the receiving and / or transmitting beams.

[0087] The term "beam pair link (BPL)" used in this disclosure refers to the pairing relationship between a transmit beam and a receive beam, and may also be referred to as the pairing relationship between a spatial transmit filter and a spatial receive filter. Transmitting signals between a transmit beam and a receive beam having a beam pairing relationship can achieve a larger beamforming gain. In one implementation, the transmitting end may send a reference signal by beam scanning, and the receiving end may also receive the reference signal by beam scanning. Specifically, the transmitting end may form beams of different directivities in space by beamforming, and may poll on multiple beams of different directivities to send the reference signal through beams of different directivities, so that the power of the reference signal in the direction pointed by the transmitting beam can be maximized. The receiving end may also form receive beams corresponding to different spatial directions and directivities by beamforming, and may poll on multiple beams of different directivities to receive the reference signal through beams of different directivities, so that the power of the reference signal received by the receiving end can be maximized in the direction pointed by the receiving beam. By traversing each transmit beam and receive beam, the receiver can perform channel measurements based on the received reference signal and report the measurement results to the transmitter. For example, the receiver can report reference signal resources with higher reference signal received power (RSRP) to the transmitter, such as the identifier of the reference signal resource, so that the transmitter can use the beam pairing relationship with better channel quality to transmit and receive signals when transmitting data or signaling.

[0088] The term "reference signal (RS)" used in this disclosure refers to a signal with a specific function or purpose (for example, for channel measurement, channel estimation, or beam quality monitoring, etc.). For example, a reference signal may include a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), and a sounding reference signal (SRS). The term "reference signal resource (RS resource)" used in this disclosure may refer to a resource used for RS. Reference signal resources can be used to configure the transmission properties of reference signals, such as time-frequency resource location, port mapping relationship, power factor, and scrambling code. A transmitting device may send a reference signal based on the reference signal resource, and a receiving device may receive a reference signal based on the reference signal resource. For example, reference signal resources may include CSI-RS resources, SSB resources, and SRS resources. In order to distinguish different reference signal resources, each reference signal resource may correspond to an identifier of a reference signal resource. For example, CSI-RS resource indicator (CSI-RS resource indicator, CRI), SSB resource indicator (SSBRI), SRS resource index (SRI). It should be noted that the above-mentioned SSB resources can also be understood as synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SS / PBCH block) resources. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, for the sake of convenience of distinction and explanation, unless otherwise specified, SSB resources and SS / PBCH block resources can represent the same meaning. In addition, in some cases, SSB can also refer to SSB resources. Therefore, the SSB resource identifier can sometimes also be called an SSB identifier, such as the index of the SSB (SSB index). It should be understood that the reference signals and corresponding reference signal resources listed above are only exemplary and should not constitute any limitation to the present disclosure. The present disclosure does not exclude the possibility of defining other reference signals in future protocols to achieve the same or similar functions. In addition, in the configuration signaling of the reference signal resources, different time domain behaviors can be indicated by different time domain behavior parameters.As an example and not a limitation, time domain behaviors may include periodic, semi-persistent (SP), and aperiodic (AP). For example, based on different time domain behaviors, CSI-RS may include periodic CSI-RS, aperiodic CSI-RS, and semi-persistent CSI-RS. Based on different time domain behaviors, SRS may also include periodic SRS, aperiodic SRS, and semi-persistent SRS.

[0089] The term "transmission configuration indication (TCI) state" used in the present disclosure may refer to the QCL relationship between two reference signals. The TCI state can be used by a terminal device to determine the receiving beam of a downlink signal or a downlink channel. Each TCI state may include a reference signal resource identifier. The reference signal resource identifier may, for example, be at least one of the following: a non-zero power (NZP) channel state information (CSI-RS) resource identifier (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId) or an SSB index (SSB-Index). It should be understood that the reference signal resource identifier in each TCI state indicates the reference signal resource used in the beam training process. Since during the beam training process, the network device can send reference signals through different transmit beams based on different reference signal resources, the reference signals sent through different transmit beams can be associated with different reference signal resources. The terminal device can receive reference signals through different receive beams based on different reference signal resources, so the reference signals received through different receive beams can also be associated with different reference signal resources. Therefore, during the beam training process, the terminal device can maintain the correspondence between the reference signal resource identifier and the receiving beam, and the network device can maintain the correspondence between the reference signal resource identifier and the transmitting beam. Through the reference signal resource identifier, a pairing relationship between the receiving beam and the transmitting beam can be established. During the communication process, the terminal device can determine the receiving beam based on the TCI state indicated by the network device, and the network device can determine the transmitting beam based on the same TCI state. It should be understood that the information contained in the listed TCI states is only an example and should not constitute any limitation to the present disclosure. For example, the TCI state may also include the index of the serving cell (ServeCellIndex), the bandwidth part (band width part, BWP) identifier (identifier, ID), etc.

[0090] The term "spatial relation (SR)" used in this disclosure may also be referred to as uplink TCI (UL TCI). Similar to the TCI described above, the spatial relationship can be used by the terminal device to determine the transmit beam of the uplink signal or uplink channel. Each spatial relationship may include a reference signal resource identifier. The reference signal resource identifier may be, for example, any one of the following: an SSB index (SSB-Index), a non-zero power CSI-RS reference signal resource identifier (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId), and an SRS resource identifier (SRS-ResourceId). The reference signal resource identifier refers to the reference signal resource used in the beam training process. A spatial relationship is used to determine a transmit beam. The terminal device may maintain the correspondence between the reference signal resource identifier and the transmit beam during the beam training process, and the network device may maintain the correspondence between the reference signal resource identifier and the receive beam during the beam training process. Through the reference signal resource identifier, a pairing relationship between the transmit beam and the receive beam may be established. During the communication process, the terminal device can determine the transmit beam based on the spatial relationship indicated by the network device, and the network device can determine the receive beam based on the same spatial relationship. In addition, each spatial relationship can also include power control information. The power control information can, for example, include at least one of the following: expected receive power, path loss reference signal, and path loss compensation parameter. The terminal device can determine what transmit power to use to send the uplink signal based on the power control information. It should be understood that the information contained in the listed spatial relationships is only an example and should not constitute any limitation to the present disclosure. For example, the spatial relationship can also include the index of the serving cell (ServeCellIndex), the bandwidth part (band width part, BWP) identifier (identifier, ID), etc.

[0091] As mentioned above, there are still some issues to be addressed regarding SSB technology, especially SSB-based beam management technology. To this end, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a technical solution for improving SSB transmission and SSB-based time-frequency synchronization mechanisms. The present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that the specific operating methods, functional descriptions, etc. in the method embodiments can also be applied to the device embodiments or system embodiments.

[0092] FIG1A shows a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 in which an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in FIG1A , the system 100 may include a terminal device 110 - 1 and a terminal device 110 - 2 (individually or collectively referred to as terminal device 110 ), and a network device 120 . The network device 120 and the terminal device 110 may communicate with each other, for example, the network device 120 may provide network access services for the terminal device 110 . The terminal device 110 may have a wireless transceiver function, which may communicate (such as wirelessly) with one or more network nodes of one or more communication systems and receive network services provided by the network nodes, where the network nodes include but are not limited to the illustrated network nodes. The terminal device 110 and the network device 120 may have the capability of high-frequency and low-frequency communication.

[0093] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the transmission link from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110 may be referred to as a downlink (DL), and the transmission link from the terminal device 110 to the network device 120 may be referred to as an uplink (UL). For example, the network device 120 may transmit an SSB to the terminal device 110 for beam pairing therebetween.

[0094] It should be understood that the communication system 100 shown in FIG1A is merely illustrative, and embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other scenarios. For example, the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 may communicate directly or perform multi-hop transmission via other relays. For example, the terminal device 110 may be in a dual-connection or multi-connection scenario. It should also be understood that the number of terminal devices and network devices shown in FIG1A is for example purposes only. There may be more or fewer terminal devices and network nodes, and the present disclosure does not impose any limitation on this.

[0095] In addition, it should be understood that the communication system 100 can be applicable to various scenarios. For example, the communication system 100 can be a 3GPP-related cellular system, such as a 4G or 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolution system (such as a 6G mobile communication system). The communication system 100 can also be an O-RAN, a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The communication system 100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems. In addition, it should also be understood that the above-mentioned communication can follow any appropriate communication technology and corresponding communication standards.

[0096] As described above, in a communication system (e.g., a 5G communication system), SSB simultaneously assumes the functions of beam alignment and time-frequency synchronization between the BS and the UE. This process involves multiple rules predefined in the protocol and signaling instructions provided by the BS. In order to reduce the complexity of UE detection, a synchronization signal grid can be predefined. Figure 1B shows example GSCN parameters of a global frequency grid associated with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1B, the SSB frequency step of frequency range 2 (FR2) is 17.28 MHz.

[0097] In one scenario, multiple SSBs in the same cell have the same center frequency. In a non-standalone (NSA) deployment scenario, the BS can indicate the center frequency of the SSB. Figure 1C shows an example SSB frequency position indication associated with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1D shows an example frequency synchronization in a standalone (SA) deployment scenario associated with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1D, in the SA deployment scenario, the UE performs blind detection based on the synchronization signal grid and determines the position of the common resource block (CRB) (i.e., CRB#0) based on the synchronization signal block subcarrier level offset (denoted as Kssb) indicated by the master information block (MIB) and the system information block (SIB) 1 and the offset of the synchronization signal block from PointA (denoted as offsetToPointA). PointA can be used as a common reference point for the resource block grid, and its position corresponds to the center position of the first subcarrier (i.e., subcarrier 0) of CRB#0 of the resource grid for each subcarrier spacing (SCS). Figures 1E and 1F respectively illustrate an example Kssb configuration and an example offsetToPointA configuration associated with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In FR2, the SSB bandwidth (20 RBs) is larger than the synchronization signal grid step. For example, the SSB bandwidth for a 120kHz subcarrier spacing is 28.8MHz, and the SSB bandwidth for a 240kHz subcarrier spacing is 57.6MHz. In addition, candidate time domain positions for the SSB can be predefined. Based on the SSB number indicated by the PBCH and / or PBCH-DMRS sequence, the UE can determine the frame start point and thereby achieve frame synchronization.

[0098] In a technical solution related to SSB, time-division SSB mapping and beam scanning are supported. The time-division SSB mapping and beam scanning solution occupies a relatively large time-frequency resource overhead and cannot give full play to the BS multi-beam concurrency capability. In order to improve the efficiency of beam alignment between BS and UE in future communication systems (for example, 6G communication systems), a BS multi-beam concurrent access process may be introduced. The BS can use multiple beams to simultaneously send multiple SSBs in a frequency division multiplexing manner. That is, the communication system can support multiple SSB frequency division plus time division multiplexing transmission schemes, so an effective time-frequency synchronization mechanism between the BS and the UE is required.

[0099] In view of the above analysis and research, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication method. In this method, a terminal device receives an SSB and determines the mapping order of the time domain and the frequency domain of the SSB pattern associated with the SSB. For example, the mapping order may include mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain. Then, the terminal device determines the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern based on the mapping order and the number of the SSB. In this way, by determining the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern based on the determination of the mapping order, the efficiency of the terminal device in performing SSB blind detection and time-frequency synchronization is improved.

[0100] The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG2 shows a schematic interactive signaling diagram of a communication process 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For clarity and without limitation, process 200 will be described with reference to FIG1A . FIG2 involves terminal device 110 and network device 120.

[0101] As shown in FIG2 , the network device 120 determines (205) the mapping order of the time domain and the frequency domain of the SSB pattern. For example, the mapping order may include mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain. FIG3A and FIG3B respectively show example time-frequency two-dimensional SSB patterns according to an embodiment of the present disclosure according to mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, and mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain. As shown in (a) of FIG3A , the 64 SSBs are only time-division multiplexed (i.e., the 64 SSBs are at the same frequency position in the frequency domain, in other words, the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain is 1), and are therefore numbered from 0 to 63 in the order of mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain. As shown in (b) of FIG3A , the 64 SSBs are frequency-division multiplexed and time-division multiplexed. As shown, the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain is 2, and are therefore numbered from 0 to 63 in the order of mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain. Specifically, it is first mapped to the frequency domain, and the first column of SSBs from the left are numbered 0 and 1 from bottom to top. Then it is mapped to the time domain, and the second column of SSBs from the left are numbered 2 and 3 from bottom to top, and so on. As shown in (c) in Figure 3A, the 64 SSBs are frequency-division multiplexing and time-division multiplexing. As shown, the number of SSBs divided by frequency in the frequency domain is 4, so they are numbered from 0 to 63 in the order of first mapping to the frequency domain and then mapping to the time domain. Specifically, it is first mapped to the frequency domain, and the first column of SSBs from the left are numbered 0 to 3 from bottom to top. Then it is mapped to the time domain, and the second column of SSBs from the left are numbered 4 to 7 from bottom to top, and so on. As shown in (a) in Figure 3B, the 64 SSBs are frequency-division multiplexing and time-division multiplexing. As shown, the number of SSBs divided by frequency in the frequency domain is 2, so they are numbered from 0 to 63 in the order of mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain. Specifically, they are first mapped to the time domain, and the first row of SSBs from the bottom are numbered from 0 to 31 from left to right. Then they are mapped to the frequency domain, and the second row of SSBs from the bottom are numbered from 32 to 63 from left to right. As shown in (c) of Figure 3B, the 64 SSBs are frequency-division multiplexed and time-division multiplexed. As shown, the number of SSBs divided by frequency in the frequency domain is 4, so they are numbered from 0 to 63 in the order of mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain. Specifically, they are first mapped to the time domain, and the first row of SSBs from the bottom are numbered from 0 to 15 from left to right. Then they are mapped to the time domain, and the second row of SSBs from the bottom are numbered from left to right, and so on. It should be understood that in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B , the total number of SSBs is 64 as an example. In other embodiments, the total number of SSBs may be configured to other numbers as needed, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0102] The mapping order can be determined in a variety of ways. For example, the mapping method may be predefined in a standard. In such a case, network device 120 may determine the mapping method from the standard. As another example, the mapping method may be determined by network device 120 and indicated to terminal device 110. For example, the mapping method may be preconfigured by network device 120 to terminal device 110, for example, via higher-layer signaling. Alternatively or additionally, the mapping method may be indicated in the SSB to be transmitted.

[0103] Referring back to FIG. 2 , based on the acquired mapping order, the network device 120 determines ( 210 ) an SSB pattern.

[0104] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern (i.e., the number of concurrent beams). For example, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern may be 1, 2, or 4 (i.e., corresponding to 1, 2, or 4 concurrent beams, respectively). As an example, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern may be indicated to the terminal device 110 in the SSB. For example, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain may be indicated in at least one of the PBCH of the SSB or the DMRS of the PBCH. In an example implementation, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern may be indicated jointly based on the PBCH of the SSB or the DMRS of the PBCH.

[0105] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the maximum number of SSBs that can be sent in the time domain based on the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern. In this case, the total number of time-frequency two-dimensional SSBs may be fixed. For example, the total number of time-frequency two-dimensional SSBs may be predefined. The total number of time-frequency two-dimensional SSBs may be 32, 64, 128, etc. FIG3C shows an example determination of the maximum number of SSBs in the time domain according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be understood that FIG3C and in some embodiments below discuss the total number of time-frequency two-dimensional SSBs as 64 as an example, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. As shown in (a) of FIG3C , the 64 SSBs are only time-division multiplexed (i.e., the 64 SSBs are at the same frequency position in the frequency domain, in other words, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain is 1). Therefore, based on the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain being 1, the maximum number of SSBs in the time domain can be determined to be 64 accordingly. As shown in (b) of Figure 3C, the 64 SSBs are frequency-division multiplexed and time-division multiplexed. Therefore, based on the number of SSBs divided by frequency in the frequency domain being 2, the maximum number of SSBs in the time domain can be determined to be 32 accordingly. As shown in (c) of Figure 3C, the 64 SSBs are frequency-division multiplexed and time-division multiplexed. Therefore, based on the number of SSBs divided by frequency in the frequency domain being 4, the maximum number of SSBs in the time domain can be determined to be 16 accordingly. Therefore, limiting the maximum number of SSBs in the time domain based on the number of SSBs divided by frequency can reduce the detection complexity on the terminal device side.

[0106] Then, based on the determined number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain and the number of SSBs time-divided in the time domain (ie, the maximum number of SSBs that can be transmitted in the time domain), the network device 120 may determine the SSB pattern in combination with the mapping order.

[0107] It should be understood that the above discussion uses the example of first determining the number of frequency-divided SSBs and then determining the number of time-divided SSBs to achieve the determination of the SSB pattern, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, in other embodiments, the terminal device 110 may first determine the number of time-divided SSBs and then determine the number of frequency-divided SSBs, and then determine the SSB pattern in combination with the mapping order. For example, the number of frequency-divided SSBs may be determined based on the number of time-divided SSBs and the total number of SSBs in the SSB pattern. The relevant implementation details are similar to the above discussion of first determining the number of frequency-divided SSBs and then determining the number of time-divided SSBs, and will not be repeated here.

[0108] Then, based on the determined mapping order, the network device 120 can map the SSB accordingly according to the synchronization grid (in other words, the synchronization grid step, or the synchronization grid step size). For example, the interval between the center frequency points of two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern (also known as the frequency domain interval) can be determined based on the synchronization grid. As an example, the frequency domain interval can be indicated as an integer multiple of the synchronization grid step to reduce the indication overhead. For example, the center frequency points of two SSBs adjacent in the frequency domain can be mapped to two adjacent synchronization grid points. As another example, the center frequency points of two SSBs adjacent in the frequency domain can be mapped to two non-adjacent synchronization grid points with one or more synchronization grid steps between them. For example, the synchronization grid step can be greater than or equal to the bandwidth of the SSB. When the synchronization grid step is greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, guard bands can be reserved on both sides of the SSB. In some embodiments, the above-mentioned frequency domain interval can be indicated in the SSB. For example, the frequency domain interval can be indicated in at least one of the PBCH in the SSB or the DMRS of the PBCH. 3D shows an example time-frequency two-dimensional SSB pattern mapped according to a synchronization grid step according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG3D , the center frequency points of two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain are mapped on two adjacent synchronization grid points, the synchronization grid step is greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, and a guard band is reserved between two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain. Based at least on the mapping order as described above (i.e., mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain), the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain (i.e., 4), and the frequency domain spacing between adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain (i.e., greater than the bandwidth of the SSB), the network device 120 can map the SSB accordingly.

[0109] Referring back to Figure 2, after completing the mapping of the SSB, the network device 120 sends (215) the SSB to the terminal device 110 based on the SSB pattern. After receiving the SSB from the network device 120, the terminal device 110 determines (220) the mapping order of the time domain and the frequency domain of the time-frequency two-dimensional SSB pattern associated with the SSB. The mapping order can help the terminal device 110 determine the position of the detected SSB in the SSB pattern. For example, in the case where the mapping order is predefined, the terminal device 110 can obtain the mapping order from the standard. Alternatively or additionally, in the case where the mapping order is indicated by the network device, if the mapping order is pre-configured to the terminal device 110 by the network device 120, the terminal device 110 determines the mapping order based on the pre-configuration, and if the mapping method is indicated in the received SSB, the terminal device 110 determines the mapping order based on the indication in the received SSB.

[0110] Based on the determined mapping order and the number of the SSBs, the terminal device 110 determines (225) the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern.

[0111] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern. For example, as described above, the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain may be indicated in the SSB. In some embodiments, the SSB may also indicate the frequency domain interval between the center frequencies of two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the maximum number of SSBs that need to be received in the time domain based on the number of SSBs divided in the frequency domain, when the total number of SSBs is known by the terminal device 110, as described above. Based on one or more of the above information, combined with the mapping order, the terminal device 110 may determine the SSB pattern. Based on the number of the SSBs and the determined SSB pattern, the terminal device 110 may determine the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern.

[0112] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform time domain synchronization based on the time domain position of the SSB in the SSB pattern. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the start point of the frame in which the SSB is located based on the time domain position of the SSB in the SSB pattern.

[0113] In an example implementation, the terminal device 110 can determine the time domain position of the SSB in the SSB pattern based on the number of the received SSB, and then determine the starting point of the frame. For example, the terminal device 110 can determine the starting point of the frame based on the time domain position of the SSB in the SSB pattern, and the time domain offset (also called the first time domain offset) between it and the reference time domain position (also called the first reference time domain position), and the time domain offset (also called the second time domain offset) between the first reference time domain position and the starting point of the frame. For example, the first reference position can be the first candidate time domain position in the SSB pattern. The first example of time domain synchronization is given below with reference to Figure 3E. As shown in Figure 3E, the mapping order is to map to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain. The number of SSBs frequency-division multiplexed in the frequency domain is 4, and the center frequencies of two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain are mapped to two adjacent synchronization grid points (that is, the frequency domain interval is the synchronization grid step), and the synchronization grid step is greater than the SSB bandwidth. The terminal device 110 can determine the time domain position of the SSB numbered 6 in the SSB pattern, that is, the second candidate time domain position, based on the detected SSB number (for example, numbered 6), the mapping order, and the number of frequency-divided SSBs. Subsequently, the terminal device 110 can determine that the frame start point is at the moment of the SSB numbered 6 based on the determination that the SSB numbered 6 is at the second candidate time domain position, and calculate a candidate time domain position forward (that is, at the first candidate time domain position at this time), and then calculate the time of the time domain offset of the first candidate time domain position relative to the frame start point.

[0114] In another example implementation, the received SSB may indicate a time domain offset (e.g., also referred to as N_offset) of the candidate SSB position, and the terminal device 110 may determine the time domain position of the SSB in the SSB pattern based on the number of the received SSB, and then determine the starting point of the frame based on the time domain offset of the candidate SSB position. For example, the time domain offset of the candidate SSB position, such as a time domain symbol offset, may be indicated in one or more of the PBCH, MIB, or SIB of the SSB. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the starting point of the frame based on the time domain position of the received SSB in the SSB pattern, a first time domain offset between the received SSB and a first reference time domain position, a time domain offset between the first reference time domain position and a second reference time domain position (also referred to as a second time domain offset), and the time domain offset. A second example of time domain synchronization is given below with reference to FIG3F. As shown in FIG3F , the mapping order is to map to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain. The number of frequency-division multiplexed SSBs in the frequency domain is 4. The center frequencies of two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain are mapped to two adjacent synchronization grid points (i.e., the frequency domain interval is the synchronization grid step length). The synchronization grid step length is greater than the SSB bandwidth. The terminal device 110 can determine the time domain position of the SSB numbered 6 in the SSB pattern, i.e., the second candidate time domain position, based on the detected SSB number (e.g., numbered 6), the mapping order, and the number of frequency-division multiplexed SSBs. Then, the terminal device 110 can determine that the SSB numbered 6 is at the second candidate time domain position, and determine that the frame start point is at the moment of the SSB numbered 6 to calculate a candidate time domain position forward (that is, calculate the first time domain offset, which is now located at the first candidate time domain position, that is, the first reference time domain position), and then calculate the time domain offset of the first candidate time domain position relative to the second reference time domain position (that is, the second time domain offset), and then calculate the moment of N_offset forward. In this way, the network side can stagger the time-frequency two-dimensional SSB patterns of multiple network devices in the time domain, so that the interference received by the terminal device when receiving the SSB is more random.

[0115] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform frequency domain synchronization based on the frequency domain position of the SSB in the SSB pattern. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the frequency domain position of the common resource block (e.g., also referred to as CRB#0 or PointA) based on the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern. In an example implementation, the terminal device 110 may determine the frequency domain position of the common resource block based on one or more of the following: the frequency domain interval of the center frequency points of two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain, the bandwidth of the SSB (e.g., also referred to as SSB_BW), the frequency offset between the lowest subcarrier of the resource block overlapping with the SSB with the lowest frequency domain position in the SSB pattern and the frequency domain position of the common resource block (e.g., also referred to as offsetToPointA), or the subcarrier offset between the lowest subcarrier of the SSB with the lowest frequency domain position in the SSB pattern and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block overlapping with the SSB with the lowest frequency domain position in the SSB pattern (e.g., also referred to as Kssb). For example, offsetToPointA may be indicated in the SIB.

[0116] An example of frequency domain synchronization is given below with reference to Figure 3G. As shown in Figure 3G, the mapping order is to map to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain. The number of frequency-division multiplexed SSBs in the frequency domain is 4, and the center frequency points of two adjacent SSBs in the frequency domain are mapped on two adjacent synchronization grid points (i.e., the frequency domain interval is the synchronization grid step), and the synchronization grid step is greater than the SSB bandwidth. The terminal device 110 can determine the position of CRB#0 based on the detected SSB number, mapping order, number of frequency-divided SSBs, frequency domain interval (i.e., synchronization grid step, also known as Raster_stepsize), SSB bandwidth, Kssb, offsetToPointA and other information. Specifically, based on the detected SSB number (for example, numbered 6), mapping order, and number of frequency-divided SSBs, it is determined that the SSB numbered 6 is in the third position from bottom to top in the frequency domain in the two-dimensional SSB pattern. Thus, the terminal device 110 can determine that CRB#0 is located at the frequency domain position of the center frequency point of SSB numbered 6 minus {2*Raster_stepsize+SSB_BW / 2+Kssb*SCS+offsetToPointA*RB bandwidth}.

[0117] According to the embodiments described with reference to Figures 2 to 3G, the network device side can freely select and transmit multiple beams (for example, 1 or 2 or 4 beams, corresponding to a transmission scheme of frequency-divided 1 or 2 or 4 SSBs), while the terminal device side can adopt the same blind detection method. After the terminal device reads one or more of the MIB, PBCH, PBCH-DMRS or SIB1, the terminal device can obtain time and frequency synchronization with the BS based on the indicated SSB frequency domain information.

[0118] Figure 4 shows a schematic flow chart of a method 400 implemented at a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one possible implementation, method 400 can be implemented by terminal device 110 in communication system 100. In other possible implementations, method 400 can also be implemented by other communication devices independent of communication system 100. As an example, the following description of method 400 will be based on the example of implementation by terminal device 110 in communication system 100.

[0119] At block 410, terminal device 110 receives a synchronization signal block (SSB). At block 420, terminal device 110 determines the mapping order of the SSB pattern associated with the SSB in the time and frequency domains, where the mapping order includes mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain. At block 430, terminal device 110 determines the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern based on the mapping order and the SSB number.

[0120] Method 400 may also include other operations performed at the terminal device 110 as described herein in conjunction with FIG. 1A to FIG. 3G .

[0121] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a method 500 implemented at a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one possible implementation, method 500 may be implemented by network device 120 in communication system 100. In other possible implementations, method 500 may also be implemented by other communication devices independent of communication system 100. As an example, method 500 will be described below using network device 120 in communication system 100 as an example.

[0122] At block 510, network device 120 determines a mapping order for the synchronization signal block (SSB) pattern in the time domain and frequency domain, where the mapping order includes mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain. At block 520, network device 120 determines an SSB pattern based on the mapping order. At block 530, network device 120 transmits the SSB based on the SSB pattern.

[0123] Method 500 may also include other operations performed at network device 120 as described herein in conjunction with FIG. 1A to FIG. 3G .

[0124] FIG6 shows a block diagram of a device 600 for implementing an embodiment according to the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the device 600 may be an element of a communication network infrastructure, such as a base station (e.g., a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a next generation NodeB (sometimes referred to as a gNodeB or gNB), a home subscriber server (HSS), a gateway (GW), such as a packet gateway (PGW) or a serving gateway (SGW), or various other nodes or functions within a core network (CN) or a public land mobile network (PLMN). In other embodiments, the device 600 may be a device connected to the network infrastructure via a wireless interface, such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, or other such device that may be classified as a user equipment (UE). In some embodiments, the device 600 may be a machine type communication (MTC) device (also known as a machine-to-machine (M2M) device), or another such device that may be classified as a UE despite not providing direct services to a user. In some embodiments, the device 600 may be a roadside unit (RSU), a vehicle UE (V-UE), a pedestrian UE (Pedestrian UE), or a similar device. UE (P-UE) or infrastructure UE (I-UE). In some scenarios, device 600 may also be referred to as a mobile device, a term intended to reflect a device that is connected to a mobile network, regardless of whether the device itself is designed for or capable of mobility. A particular device may utilize all of the components shown or only a subset of the components, and the level of integration may vary from device to device. In addition, device 600 may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0125] Device 600 generally includes a processor 602, such as a central processing unit (CPU), and may further include a special-purpose processor, such as a graphics processing unit (GPU) or other such processor, memory 604, a network interface 606, and a bus 608 to connect the components of device 600. Optionally, device 600 may also include components such as a mass storage device 610, a video adapter 612, and an I / O interface 616 (shown in phantom).

[0126] Memory 604 may include any type of non-transitory system memory readable by processor 602, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, memory 604 may include more than one type of memory, such as ROM used at boot time and DRAM used for program and data storage while executing programs. Bus 608 may be one or more of any type of bus architecture, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, or a video bus.

[0127] Device 600 may also include one or more network interfaces 606, which may include at least one of a wired network interface and a wireless network interface. As shown in FIG6 , network interface 606 may include a wired network interface for connecting to network 622, and may also include a wireless access network interface 620 for connecting to other devices via wireless links. When device 600 is a network infrastructure element, wireless access network interface 620 may be omitted for nodes or functions that are elements of the PLMN rather than elements at the wireless edge (e.g., eNB). When device 600 is infrastructure at the wireless edge of a network, both wired and wireless network interfaces may be included. When device 600 is a wirelessly connected device, such as a user device, wireless access network interface 620 may be present and may be supplemented by other wireless interfaces, such as a WiFi network interface. Network interface 606 allows device 600 to communicate with remote entities, such as those connected to network 622.

[0128] The mass storage 610 may include any type of non-transitory storage device configured to store data, programs, and other information and make the data, programs, and other information accessible via the bus 608. The mass storage 610 may include, for example, one or more of a solid-state drive, a hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, or an optical disk drive. In some embodiments, the mass storage 610 may be remote from the device 600 and may be accessed using a network interface such as the interface 606. In the illustrated embodiment, the mass storage 610 is different from the memory 604 that includes it, and the mass storage 610 may generally perform storage tasks compatible with higher latency, but may generally provide less or no fluctuation. In some embodiments, the mass storage 610 may be integrated with the heterogeneous memory 604.

[0129] Optional video adapter 612 and I / O interface 616 (shown in dotted lines) provide interfaces for coupling device 600 to external input and output devices. Examples of input and output devices include display 66 coupled to video adapter 612 and I / O device 618 such as a touch screen coupled to I / O interface 616. Other devices can be coupled to device 600, and additional or fewer interfaces can be utilized. For example, a serial interface such as a universal serial bus (USB) (not shown) can be used to provide an interface for external devices. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in embodiments where device 600 is part of a data center, I / O interface 616 and video adapter 612 can be virtualized and provided through network interface 606.

[0130] For example, the device 600 in FIG. 6 may be implemented as an electronic device, or may be implemented as a chip or a chip system in an electronic device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0131] When the device 600 is a chip used in a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information sent by the base station to the terminal through other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna); or the terminal chip sends information to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the base station.

[0132] When the above-mentioned device 600 is a module applied to a base station, the base station module implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The base station module receives information from other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the base station; or, the base station module sends information to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the base station to the terminal. The base station module here can be a baseband chip of a base station, or a CU, DU or other module, or a device under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, open DU or other devices.

[0133] The following describes the communication devices provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0134] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG7 , the communication device 700 can be used to execute the process executed by the terminal device or network device in any of the embodiments shown in FIG2 to FIG3G . For details, please refer to the relevant description of the above method embodiments.

[0135] The communication device 700 includes a transceiver module 701 and a processing module 702 .

[0136] The processing module 702 is used to process data. The transceiver module 701 can implement corresponding communication functions. The transceiver module 701 can also be called a communication interface or a communication module.

[0137] Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a storage module, which may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 702 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage module so that the communication device implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0138] The communication device module 700 can be used to execute the actions performed by the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiments. The communication device 700 can be a terminal device or network device, or a component that can be configured in a terminal device or network device. The processing module 702 is used to execute the processing-related operations on the terminal device or network device side in the above method embodiments. The transceiver module 701 is used to execute the reception and / or transmission-related operations on the terminal device or network device side in the above method embodiments.

[0139] Optionally, the transceiver module 701 may include a sending module and a receiving module. The sending module is used to perform the sending operation in the above method embodiment. The receiving module is used to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment.

[0140] It should be noted that the communication device 700 may include a sending module but not a receiving module. Alternatively, the communication device 700 may include a receiving module but not a sending module. The specific implementation depends on whether the above solution executed by the communication device 700 includes a sending action and a receiving action.

[0141] Optionally, the communication device 700 is used to perform the actions performed by the terminal device or network device in any of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 3G above. For example, the communication device 700 is used to perform the following scheme:

[0142] Transceiver module 701, used for receiving SSB;

[0143] Processing module 702 is used to determine the mapping order of the time domain and frequency domain of the SSB pattern associated with the SSB, the mapping order including mapping to the frequency domain first and then mapping to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then mapping to the frequency domain; and determine the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern based on the mapping order and the SSB number.

[0144] For another example, the communication device 700 is used to execute the following solution:

[0145] A processing module 702 is configured to determine a mapping order of the SSB pattern in the time domain and the frequency domain, the mapping order including mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain; and determine the SSB pattern based on the mapping order;

[0146] The transceiver module 701 is configured to send SSB based on an SSB pattern.

[0147] It should be understood that the specific process of each module executing the above corresponding process has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0148] The processing module 702 in the above embodiment can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuits. The transceiver module 701 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuits. The transceiver module 701 can also be called a communication module or communication interface. The storage module can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0149] FIG8 is another schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 800 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device 800 includes a processor 810, which is coupled to a memory 820. The memory 820 is configured to store computer programs, instructions, and / or data. The processor 810 is configured to execute the computer programs, instructions, and / or data stored in the memory 820, thereby executing the method in the above method embodiment.

[0150] Optionally, the communication device 800 includes one or more processors 810.

[0151] Optionally, as shown in FIG8 , the communication device 800 may further include a memory 820 .

[0152] Optionally, the communication device 800 may include one or more memories 820 .

[0153] Optionally, the memory 820 may be integrated with the processor 810 or provided separately.

[0154] Optionally, as shown in Figure 8, the communication device 800 may further include a transceiver 830, which is used to receive and / or send signals. For example, the processor 810 is used to control the transceiver 830 to receive and / or send signals.

[0155] As a solution, the communication device 800 is used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0156] For example, the processor 810 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment, and the transceiver 830 is used to implement the sending and receiving-related operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0157] As another solution, the communication device 800 is used to implement the operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0158] For example, the processor 810 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiment, and the transceiver 830 is used to implement the sending and receiving-related operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0159] Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device 900 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The terminal device 900 may correspond to the terminal shown in Figure 1A and is used to implement the operations of the terminal in the above embodiments. As shown in Figure 9, the terminal includes: one or more antennas 910, a radio frequency processing system 920, and a processor system 930.

[0160] In the downlink direction, the RF processing system 920 receives RF signals through the antenna 910 and sends the processed signals to the processor system 930 for further processing. In the uplink direction, the processor system 930 processes the terminal side information and sends it to the RF processing system 920. The RF processing system 920 processes the signal and sends it through the antenna 910.

[0161] In one example, the RF processing system 920 serves as the communication interface for the terminal's external communications and may include a radio frequency front end (RFFE) 921 and an RF transceiver 922. The RFFE 921 is primarily responsible for shaping, passband selection, and / or gain processing of the radio frequency (RF) signal received by the antenna or the RF signal to be transmitted by the antenna. It may include one or more components such as an RF switch, a duplexer, a filter, a power amplifier, an antenna tuner, and a low-noise amplifier. The RFFE 921 may be a circuit system composed of multiple discrete components or integrated into one or more chips. The RF transceiver 922 is responsible for processing the RF signal received by the RFFE into baseband / intermediate frequency (IF) signals for further processing by the processor system 930, and for processing the baseband / IF signals provided by the processor system 930 into RF signals for transmission to the RFFE 921. The baseband / IF signals transmitted between the transceiver 920 and the processor system 930 may be either digital or analog. The RF transceiver 922 may be implemented by one or more chips, which are often referred to as radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs).

[0162] In one example, the processor system 930 may include one or more processors for processing signals and executing one or more communication protocols, and a memory 936. In one example, the one or more processors include at least one baseband processor 931 (also known as a modem processor). The memory 936 is used to store data and / or computer program instructions. Optionally, the processor system 930 may also include one or more application processors 932 for processing the terminal operating system and application layer. Optionally, the processor system 930 may also include a voice subsystem 933, a multimedia subsystem 934, an interface circuit 935, and / or a memory 936. The voice subsystem 933 is used to process voice signals, the multimedia subsystem 934 is used to handle multimedia-related operations such as video encoding and decoding, image processing, etc., and the interface circuit 935 is used to communicate with other terminal components, such as the display 940, input device 950, and memory 960. The above components in the processor system 930 can communicate with each other via a bus or communication interface circuit.

[0163] In one example, the processor system 930 can be packaged into a processor chip, such as a SoC chip or a system in a package (SIP) chip. In another example, the processor system 930 can be a system consisting of multiple chips, for example, the baseband processor 931 can be packaged into a single chip, or it can be packaged into a single chip with part or all of the circuits of the radio frequency processing system.

[0164] In one example, the memory 936 may be an on-chip memory, that is, located on the processor system 930 chip. In one example, the memory 960 may be an off-chip memory, that is, located outside the processor system 930 chip.

[0165] In one example, the baseband processor 931 may include one or more processor cores 9311, a memory 9312, and an interface circuit 9314. The one or more processor cores 9311 are used to process signals and execute one or more communication protocols. The memory 9312 is used to store at least part of the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data. In one example, the one or more processor cores 9311 implement the relevant operations in the above-mentioned method embodiment (such as the operations in the method embodiment described with reference to FIG4 ) by executing the computer program instructions stored in the memory 9312. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the memory 9312 is used to store the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data, which may refer to the memory 9312 being used to store all the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data for execution by the processor core 9311; or it may refer to the memory 9312 being used to store part of the corresponding computer program instructions and / or data, which includes the computer program instructions and / or data currently required to be executed by the processor 9311. The memory 9312 may implement the relevant operations in the above-mentioned method embodiment by storing different parts of the computer program instructions and / or data for execution by the processor core 9311 multiple times. Interface circuit 9314 serves as a communication interface for communicating with other components, such as transmitting signals with RF processing system 920 and communicating with other subsystems and related components of processor system 930 via a bus. For example, it transmits data and control signals with application processor 932 and voice subsystem communication 933, and transmits data or computer program instructions with memory 936 or memory 960. Optionally, to reduce the load on the processor core, baseband signal processing circuit 9313 may be provided to perform at least some baseband signal processing, including signal demodulation, modulation, encoding, or decoding.

[0166] In one example, the communication device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure may be a terminal device 900 , a communication module including a processor system 930 and a radio frequency system 920 , a processor system 930 or a baseband processor 931 .

[0167] The above-mentioned processor, processor system, application processor, baseband processor, processor circuit or processor core can be collectively referred to as a processor, which may include one or more combinations of a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor unit (MPU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an artificial intelligence processor (AI processor) or a neural network processor (NPU).

[0168] The aforementioned memory may include one or more of the following storage media: random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), phase-change memory (PCM), resistive random access memory (RERAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), cache, register, read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), hard disk, etc. In one example, computer program instructions for executing the aforementioned embodiments may be stored in a non-volatile memory, such as at least a portion of the aforementioned memory 960 (e.g., one or more of ROM, flash memory, EPROM, or hard disk). When the terminal is running, the corresponding computer program instructions can be partially or completely loaded into a memory with a faster transmission speed to the processor, such as at least a part of the above-mentioned memory 936 and / or memory 9312 (such as one or more of RAM, SRAM, DRAM, PCM, RERAM, MRAM, FRAM, cache, or register), for execution by the processor to implement the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0169] In one example, the RF transceiver 922 and the RF front end 921 may also be packaged in one chip. In one example, the RF transceiver 922, the RF front end 921 and the baseband processor 931 may also be packaged in one chip.

[0170] The present application further provides a communication device 1000, which may be a terminal device, a processor of a terminal device, or a chip. The communication device 1000 may be used to execute the operations executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0171] When the communication apparatus 1000 is a terminal device, a simplified schematic diagram of the terminal device is shown in Figure 10. As shown in Figure 10, the terminal device includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver.

[0172] The memory can store computer program codes. The transceiver includes a transmitter 1031 , a receiver 1032 , a radio frequency circuit (not shown in the figure), an antenna 1033 , and an input and output device (not shown in the figure).

[0173] The processor is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control terminal devices, execute software programs, and process software program data. Memory is primarily used to store software programs and data. Radio frequency circuits are primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. Antennas are primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices. For example, touch screens, displays, and keyboards are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user. It should be noted that some types of terminal devices may not have input / output devices.

[0174] When data needs to be sent, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent, and then outputs the baseband signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit performs RF processing on the baseband signal and then sends the RF signal outward in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal device, the RF circuit receives the RF signal through the antenna, converts the RF signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor. The processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data. For ease of explanation, Figure 10 shows only one memory, processor, and transceiver. In an actual terminal device product, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc. The memory may be set independently of the processor or integrated with the processor, and this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0175] In the embodiment of the present application, the antenna and radio frequency circuit with transceiver functions can be regarded as the transceiver module of the terminal device, and the processor with processing function can be regarded as the processing module of the terminal device.

[0176] As shown in Figure 10, the terminal device includes a processor 1010, a memory 1020, and a transceiver 1030. The processor 1010 may also be referred to as a processing unit, a processing board, a processing module, a processing device, etc. The transceiver 1030 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc.

[0177] Alternatively, the device implementing the receiving function in transceiver 1030 may be considered a receiving module, and the device implementing the transmitting function in transceiver 1030 may be considered a transmitting module. That is, transceiver 1030 includes a receiver and a transmitter. A transceiver may also be sometimes referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver module, or a transceiver circuit. A receiver may also be sometimes referred to as a receiver, a receiving module, or a receiving circuit. A transmitter may also be sometimes referred to as a transmitter, a transmitting module, or a transmitting circuit.

[0178] The processor 1001 is used to perform the processing actions on the terminal device side in the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 3G above, and the transceiver 1030 is used to perform the transceiver actions on the terminal device side in the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 3G above.

[0179] It should be understood that FIG10 is merely an example and not a limitation, and the terminal device including the transceiver module and the processing module may not rely on the structure shown in FIG10 .

[0180] When the communication device 1000 is a chip, the chip includes a processor, memory, and a transceiver. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processor can be a processing module, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. The sending operation of the terminal device in the above method embodiment can be understood as the chip's output, and the receiving operation of the terminal device in the above method embodiment can be understood as the chip's input.

[0181] The present application also provides a communication device 1100, which can be a network device or a chip. The communication device 1100 can be used to perform the operations performed by the network device in any of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 3G above.

[0182] When the communication device 1100 is a network device, for example, a base station. Figure 11 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the base station structure. The base station includes part 1110, part 1120, and part 1130. Part 1110 is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the base station, etc.; part 1110 is usually the control center of the base station, which can usually be called a processor, and is used to control the base station to perform the processing operations on the network device side in the above method embodiment. Part 1120 is mainly used to store computer program code and data. Part 1130 is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals; part 1130 can usually be called a transceiver module, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver, etc. The transceiver module of part 1130 can also be called a transceiver or a transceiver, etc., which includes an antenna 1133 and a radio frequency circuit (not shown in the figure), wherein the radio frequency circuit is mainly used for radio frequency processing. Optionally, the device for implementing the receiving function in section 1130 may be considered a receiver, and the device for implementing the transmitting function may be considered a transmitter, that is, section 1130 includes a receiver 1132 and a transmitter 1131. A receiver may also be referred to as a receiving module, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, and a transmitter may be referred to as a transmitting module, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit.

[0183] Sections 1110 and 1120 may include one or more boards, each of which may include one or more processors and one or more memories. The processor is used to read and execute programs in the memory to implement baseband processing functions and control the base station. If multiple boards are present, the boards may be interconnected to enhance processing capabilities. As an optional implementation, multiple boards may share one or more processors, multiple boards may share one or more memories, or multiple boards may simultaneously share one or more processors.

[0184] For example, the transceiver module in section 1130 is used to execute the transceiver-related processes executed by the network device in the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 3G. The processor in section 1110 is used to execute the processing-related processes executed by the network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

[0185] It should be understood that FIG11 is merely an example and not a limitation, and the network device including the processor, memory, and transceiver may not rely on the structure shown in FIG11 .

[0186] When the communication device 1100 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processor can be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. The network device's sending operation in the above method embodiment can be understood as the chip's output, and the network device's receiving operation in the above method embodiment can be understood as the chip's input.

[0187] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the explanation and beneficial effects of the relevant contents in any of the communication devices provided above can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0188] Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method executed by a terminal device or a network device in the above method embodiments.

[0189] Based on the above embodiments, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute any of the methods provided in the above embodiments.

[0190] Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored therein. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer performs any of the methods provided in the above embodiments. The storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example but not limitation, the computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0191] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes the terminal device in the above embodiment and the network device in the above embodiment.

[0192] Based on the above embodiments, the present disclosure also provides a chip for reading a computer program stored in a memory to implement any of the methods provided in the above embodiments. The chip may include an input interface, an output interface, and a processing circuit. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the input interface and the output interface may be used to implement signaling or data exchange, and the processing circuit may be used to implement signaling or data information generation and processing.

[0193] Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a computer device to implement the functions involved in each communication device in the above embodiments. In one possible design, the chip system also includes a memory for storing the necessary programs and data for the computer device. When the processor runs the program instructions, the device in which the chip system is installed implements the method involved in any of the above embodiments. The chip system can be composed of one or more chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0194] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip device, including a processor, for calling a computer program or computer instruction stored in the memory so that the processor executes the method provided in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 3G above.

[0195] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 3G , and the output of the chip device corresponds to the sending operation in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 3G .

[0196] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0197] Optionally, the chip device further includes a memory, in which computer programs or computer instructions are stored.

[0198] The processor mentioned in any of the above may be a general-purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the method provided in any of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 3G above. The memory mentioned in any of the above may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0199] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0200] The present disclosure is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the processes and / or boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0201] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0202] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0203] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in program modules, which are executed in a device on a real or virtual processor of a target to perform the process / method described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. Typically, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of program modules can be combined or divided between program modules as needed. The machine-executable instructions for program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in local and remote storage media.

[0204] The computer program code for implementing the method of the disclosed embodiment can be written in one or more programming languages. These computer program codes can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device so that when the program code is executed by the computer or other programmable data processing device, the functions / operations specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram are implemented. The program code can be executed entirely on a computer, partially on a computer, as an independent software package, partially on a computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server.

[0205] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, and the like. Examples of signals may include electrical, optical, radio, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, and the like.

[0206] A computer-readable medium may be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program for or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More detailed examples of computer-readable storage media include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0207] In addition, although the operations of the method of the embodiment of the present disclosure are described in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that these operations must be performed in this particular order, or that all the operations shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. On the contrary, the steps depicted in the flowchart can change the order of execution. Additionally or alternatively, certain steps can be omitted, multiple steps can be combined into one step, and / or one step can be decomposed into multiple steps. It should also be noted that the features and functions of two or more devices according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can be embodied in one device. Conversely, the features and functions of a device described above can be further divided into multiple devices to be embodied.

[0208] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure without departing from the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present disclosure fall within the scope of the claims of the present disclosure and their equivalents, the present disclosure is intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, comprising: Receive synchronization signal block SSB; Determine a mapping order of the SSB pattern associated with the SSB in the time domain and the frequency domain, the mapping order including mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain; as well as Based on the mapping order and the number of the SSB, the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern is determined.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the position of the SSB in the SSB pattern comprises: determining the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern; determining the SSB pattern based on the mapping order and the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern; as well as The position of the SSB in the SSB pattern is determined based on the number of the SSB and the SSB pattern.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern is indicated in at least one of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) in the SSB or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising: Based on the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern, a maximum number of SSBs that need to be received in the time domain is determined.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the SSB indicates a time domain offset of a candidate SSB position, the method further comprising: Time domain synchronization is performed based on the number of the SSB and the time domain offset.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: The frequency domain location of the common resource block is determined based on one or more of the following: The interval between the center frequency points of two adjacent SSBs in the SSB pattern in the frequency domain; The bandwidth of the SSB; a frequency offset between the lowest subcarrier of a resource block overlapping with the SSB with the lowest frequency domain position in the SSB pattern and the frequency domain position of the common resource block; or The subcarrier offset between the lowest subcarrier of the SSB with the lowest frequency domain position in the SSB pattern and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block overlapping with the SSB with the lowest frequency domain position in the SSB pattern.

7. A communication method, comprising: Determine a mapping order of the synchronization signal block SSB pattern in the time domain and the frequency domain, where the mapping order includes mapping to the frequency domain first and then to the time domain, or mapping to the time domain first and then to the frequency domain; determining the SSB pattern based on the mapping order; as well as The SSB is transmitted based on the SSB pattern.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: Based on the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern, the maximum number of SSBs that can be transmitted in the time domain is determined.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the SSB indicates a time domain offset of a candidate SSB position.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the time domain offset is indicated in one or more of: a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) in the SSB, a master information block (MIB), or a system information block (SIB). 11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the SSB indicates the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern.

12. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4 and 11, wherein the number of SSBs frequency-divided in the frequency domain in the SSB pattern is indicated in at least one of a physical broadcast channel PBCH or a demodulation reference signal DMRS of the PBCH in the SSB.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the SSB indicates an interval between center frequency points of two adjacent SSBs in the SSB pattern in the frequency domain.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the interval is determined based on a synchronization grid, the synchronization grid step being greater than or equal to a bandwidth of the SSB.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the interval is indicated in at least one of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH in the SSB.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the mapping order is at least one of the following: predefined; pre-configured; or is indicated in the SSB.

17. A communication device comprising: A processor, and a memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

18. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, causes the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

19. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

20. A chip comprising a processing circuit configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processor; the processor is configured to execute a computer program or computer instructions in a memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

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